Carolina Bonomi explains sex work within Brazil’s economy
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Carolina Bonomi, a social scientist in Brazil, detailed how sex workers in the country organize to fight for their rights and navigate challenges within the capitalist system.
Bonomi’s book, “Mulher da vida, é preciso falar” (Woman of life, it is necessary to speak), explores the political and conceptual debates surrounding sex work.
She explained that different groups of sex workers use specific terms, such as prostituta (prostitute), trabalhador(a) sexual (sex worker), and profissional do sexo (sex professional), as strategies for recognition and to fight stigma. Despite sex work being recognized in Brazil’s Classification of Brazilian Occupation in 2002, criminal laws still punish activities surrounding it and stigmatize those involved. This lack of clear regulation leaves workers vulnerable to informal employment and a lack of social protections.
Bonomi argues that sex work should be understood as a precarious occupation within the larger capitalist system, where women often weigh factors like flexible hours, autonomy, and income against other limited options. Bonomi also highlighted the history of resistance from sex workers, tracing their activism back to opposition to the military dictatorship and the support of progressive sectors of the Catholic Church.
More recently, this activism has evolved into “putafeminism,” a term coined by sex workers to build ongoing struggles for rights and combat institutional violence.
